IPL’s importance can’t be overstated. This T20 league is as big as the NFL and EPL. IPL players get a surprisingly high per match salary despite salaries being nowhere near other sports.
As teams prepare for the upcoming IPL Auction, their focus will be on finances. Teams will drop expensive players who don’t contribute much. This is an opportunity to bid on new talent. With so many skilled cricketers, teams looking for quality players can usually find them.
In IPL 2025, each team had INR 120 Cr to spend. For IPL 2026, expect BCCI to increase this to INR 125 Cr, giving teams an extra 5 Cr to spend on players. Before the IPL 2026 Mini Auction, let’s see each of the 10 teams, their likely retained players, their salaries and the remaining purse.
IPL 2026: Predicted Retained Players and Remaining Purse
Chennai Super Kings (CSK)
- Likely Retained Players: Ravindra Jadeja (18 Cr), Ruturaj Gaikwad (18 Cr), Matheesha Pathirana (13 Cr), Shivam Dube (12 Cr), Noor Ahmad (10 Cr), Khaleel Ahmed (4.8 Cr), Rachin Ravindra (4 Cr), MS Dhoni (4 Cr), Anshul Kamboj (3.4 Cr), Sam Curran (2.4 Cr), Dewald Brevis (2.2 Cr), Nathan Ellis (2 Cr), Vansh Bedi (0.55 Cr), Ramakrishna Ghosh (0.3 Cr), Andre Siddharth (0.3 Cr), Shaik Rasheed (0.3 Cr), Urvil Patel (0.3 Cr), Ayush Mhatre (0.3 Cr)
- Purse Remaining: Around 30 Cr (after retaining 18 players)
- Needs: With a strong core, CSK may look for finishers and all-rounders.
Delhi Capitals (DC)
Likely Retained Players: Axar Patel (16.5 Cr), KL Rahul (14 Cr), Kuldeep Yadav (13.25 Cr), Mitchell Starc (11.75 Cr), T Natarajan (10.75 Cr), Tristan Stubbs (10 Cr), Jake Fraser (9 Cr), Mukesh Kumar (8 Cr), Abhishek Porel (4 Cr), Ashutosh Sharma (3.8 Cr), Sameer Rizvi (0.95 Cr), Vipraj Nigam (0.5 Cr)
- Purse Remaining: Around 23 Cr (after retaining 12 players)
- Needs: Delhi may need to release a player for a bigger Auction budget, as they need around 7-8 players.
Gujarat Titans (GT)
Likely Retained Players: Rashid Khan (18 Cr), Shubman Gill (16.5 Cr), Jos Buttler (15.75 Cr), Mohammed Siraj (12.25 Cr), Kagiso Rabada (10.75 Cr), Prasidh Krishna (9.5 Cr), Sai Sudharsan (8.5 Cr), Rahul Tewatia (4 Cr), Shahrukh Khan (4 Cr), Washington Sundar (3.2 Cr), Sherfane Rutherford (2.6 Cr), Gerald Coetzee (2.4 Cr), R Sai Kishore (2 Cr), Mahipal Lomror (1.7 Cr), Arshad Khan (1.3 Cr), Nishant Sindhu (0.3 Cr), Manav Suthar (0.3 Cr), Anuj Rawat (0.3 Cr), Kulwant Kejroliya (0.3 Cr)
- Purse Remaining: Around 12 Cr (after retaining 19 players)
- Needs: GT will be looking for foreign players at the Auction.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
Likely Retained Players: Rinku Singh (13 Cr), Andre Russell (12 Cr), Sunil Narine (12 Cr), Varun Chakravarthy (12 Cr), Anrich Nortje (6.5 Cr), Ramandeep Singh (4 Cr), Harshit Rana (4 Cr), Quinton de Kock (3.6 Cr), Angkrish Raghuvanshi (3 Cr), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (2 Cr), Moeen Ali (2 Cr), Vaibhav Arora (1.8 Cr), Ajinkya Rahane (1.5 Cr), Umran Malik (0.75 Cr), Anukul Roy (0.4 Cr), Mayank Markande (0.3 Cr)
- Purse Remaining: High (after retaining 16 players),can increase more releasing Venkatesh
- Needs: KKR will look for a few backup foreign players and could target any quality player at the Auction.
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)
Likely Retained Players: Rishabh Pant (27 Cr), Nicholas Pooran (21 Cr), Ravi Bishnoi (11 Cr), Avesh Khan (9.75 Cr), Akash Deep (8 Cr), David Miller (7.5 Cr), Abdul Samad (4.2 Cr), Ayush Badoni (4 Cr), Mitchell Marsh (3.4 Cr), Will O’Rourke (3 Cr), Shahbaz Ahmed (2.4 Cr), Aiden Markram (2 Cr), Shardul Thakur (2 Cr), Himmat Singh (0.3 Cr), Digvesh Singh (0.3 Cr), Akash Singh (0.3 Cr), Prince Yadav (0.3 Cr), Arshin Kulkarni (0.3 Cr)
- Purse Remaining: Around 18 Cr (after retaining 18 players)
- Needs: LSG might target 2-3 quality additions.
Mumbai Indians (MI)
Likely Retained Players: Jasprit Bumrah (18 Cr), Hardik Pandya (16.35 Cr), Suryakumar Yadav (16.35 Cr), Rohit Sharma (16.3 Cr), Trent Boult (12.5 Cr), Deepak Chahar (9.25 Cr), Tilak Varma (8 Cr), Naman Dhir (5.25 Cr), Will Jacks (5.25 Cr), Allah Ghazanfar (4.8 Cr), Mitchell Santner (2 Cr), Ryan Rickelton (1 Cr), Corbin Bosch (0.3 Cr), Robin Minz (0.65 Cr), Karn Sharma (0.5 Cr), Ashwani Kumar (0.3 Cr), Raj Bawa (0.3 Cr), Bevon Jackobs (0.3 Cr), Arjun Tendulkar (0.3 Cr), Vignesh Puthur (0.3 Cr)
- Purse Remaining: Around 7 Cr (after retaining 20 players)
- Needs: MI is likely to target new Indian talent.
Punjab Kings (PBKS)
Likely Retained Players: Shreyas Iyer (26.75 Cr), Arshdeep Singh (18 Cr), Yuzvendra Chahal (18 Cr), Marcus Stoinis (11 Cr), Marco Jansen (7 Cr), Shashank Singh (5.5 Cr), Nehal Wadhera (4.2 Cr), Prabsimran Singh (4 Cr), Priyansh Arya (3.8 Cr), Mitchell Owen (3 Cr), Josh Inglis (2.6 Cr), Azmatullah Omerzai (2.4 Cr), Lockie Ferguson (2 Cr), Vyshak Vijakumar (1.8 Cr), Yash Thakur (1.6 Cr), Harpreet Brar (1.5 Cr), Kuldeep Sen (0.8 Cr), Musheer Khan (0.3 Cr), Suryansh Shedge (0.3 Cr), Pyla Avinash (0.3 Cr), Pravin Dubey (0.3 Cr)
- Purse Remaining: Around 10 Cr (after retaining 21 players)
- Needs: PBKS could look for 2-3 solid backup players.
Rajasthan Royals (RR)
Likely Retained Players: Sanju Samson (18 Cr), Yashasvi Jaiswal (18 Cr), Riyan Parag (14 Cr), Dhruv Jurel (14 Cr), Jofra Archer (12.5 Cr), Shimron Hetmyer (11 Cr), Tushar Deshpande (6.5 Cr), Wanindu Hasaranga (5.25 Cr), Maheesh Theekshana (4.4 Cr), Nitish Rana (4.2 Cr), Sandeep Sharma (4 Cr), Nandre Burger (3.5 Cr), Akash Madhwal (1.2 Cr), Vaibhav Suryavanshi (1.1 Cr), Shubham Dubey (0.8 Cr), Yudhvir Charak (0.35 Cr)
- Purse Remaining: Around 6 Cr (after retaining 16 players)
- Needs: RR might buy 2-3 backups.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)
Likely Retained Players: Virat Kohli (21 Cr), Josh Hazlewood (12.5 Cr), Phil Salt (11.5 Cr), Rajat Patidar (11 Cr), Jitesh Sharma (11 Cr), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (10.75 Cr), Rasikh Dar (6 Cr), Krunal Pandya (5.75 Cr), Yash Dayal (5 Cr), Tim David (3 Cr), Suyash Sharma (2.6 Cr), Jacob Bethell (2.6 Cr), Devdutt Padikkal (2 Cr), Nuwan Thushara (1.6 Cr), Romario Shephard (1.5 Cr), Mayank Agarwal (1 Cr), Lungi Ngidi (1 Cr), Swapnil Singh (0.5 Cr), Manoj Bhandage (0.3 Cr), Swastik Chikara (0.3 Cr)
- Purse Remaining: Around 15 Cr (after retaining 20 players and releasing Liam Livingstone)
- Needs: RCB might invest in young Indian talent.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)
Likely Retained Players: Heinrich Klaasen (23 Cr), Pat Cummins (18 Cr), Travis Head (14 Cr), Abhishek Sharma (14 Cr), Ishan Kishan (11.25 Cr), Harshal Patel (8 Cr), Nitish Reddy (6 Cr), Abhinav Manohar (3.2 Cr), Simarjeet Singh (1.5 Cr), Ehsan Malinga (1.2 Cr), Jaydev Unadkat (1 Cr), Kamindu Mendis (0.75 Cr), Zeeshan Ansari (0.4 Cr), Atharva Taide (0.3 Cr), Aniket Verma (0.3 Cr), Harsh Dubey (0.3 Cr)
- Purse Remaining: Around 22 Cr (after retaining 16 players)
- Needs: SRH may look for 4-5 good players.
